Overcoming Competitive State Anxiety
Competitive State Anxiety is a feeling of extreme anxiety an athlete may experience when they do not think they can meet the demands of the sport in a certain competitive setting. This could be what torpedos an athlete's performance.
Especially in individual sports like squash, it is sometimes extremely hard to overcome overwhelming feelings of anxiety during a tournament causing a downward spiral that a player may not be able to recover from at the moment. The symptoms may look like: loss of confidence, lack of focus, thoughts of failure, intense sweating, increase in heart rate, etc. It looks different for everyone but the overall feeling and outcome is similar for most.
It is normal for someone to experience anxiety in the sport they play but not in any other part of their life. Normally, those who have an intense need to win and or have expectations that they cannot realistically reach will develop competitive state anxiety.
There are a few tips for beginning to overcome anxiety in a sport setting:
-First and foremost, acknowledge that you are feeling anxious. The more the feelings are suppressed the worse they can become.
-Set realistic and attainable goals for the upcoming match or tournament and rework them if they don't pan out exactly as planned.
-Practicing breathing techniques ( https://health.clevelandclinic.org/box-breathing-benefits )
-Practicing positive and instructional self-talk to help refocus the mind on the task at hand.
These tips are not one size fits all and sometimes their needs to be a trail and error to get a handle on the anxiety that is being felt. It can be a process that can make an athlete more mentally tough if they buy into the process but it is not something that should be tackled alone.
How can I help?
As a mental performance consultant that specializes in squash, I can give those who are looking to take their game to the next level mental techniques and skills that positively affect overall performance.
Email ebonie@squashtigers.com to schedule your first session free!
